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Sunday 9 September 2012
Wednesday 11 July 2007
Istanbul
View of the Bosphorus
First view of Ayasofya with big taxis in foreground
Stray puddy tatts, having been fed by someone who must care
Turkish cafe, morning
What a change of scene and pace is Istanbul! It really is a city of contrasts. There is the exotic beauty of the majestic buildings such as the Topkapi Palace, Ayasofya and the Blue Mosque and the burnt out, abandoned or run down buildings dwarfed beside them. There is also the garbage in the streets and the homeless cats and their broods, thin and scrappy, some scarred and limping. Very distressing. One must also be brave and tough enough to run the gauntlet of the ‘hard sell’, the determined shopkeepers who speak excellent English doing all they can to ‘help us spend our money’! At least most of these businessmen are polite, charming and witty in their banter and repartee with us. Once you get into the rhythm of smiling and politely saying ‘No thank you’ without pausing, you do fine. Doing the haggling thing gets easier, too. It’s surprising – you think it would be kind of easy, but it takes a bit of getting used to, and at first is a tad daunting. Maybe that’s because we began with big fish – a carpet salesman! Quite stressful really. The seduction begins with apple tea and took about an hour to complete our little dance. We managed to leave without buying a carpet – not because we didn’t want one, we found one we both loved, but we just couldn’t afford it. Shame, we got him down to a really low price, too. Oh well.
John and the very charming shoe shine guy
Almost like New York with so many taxis
Of course not, it's bad for you!
Our hotel, the Garden House Istanbul, was in Sultanahmet which was a perfect location for a sightseeing visit. We could walk to all the major places of interest which made things all very easy and laid back for our last stop before heading home. The staff at the hotel was also excellent in their hospitality and thoughtfulness, which really makes a difference to a stay in a foreign city. The hotel had a garden courtyard complete with water feature where the serenity was only disturbed by the minor key calls to prayer.
Homeless kitties
Shop kitty
Kitten resting on road
Our first full day we escaped a big downpour by visiting Topkapi Palace where the Sultans used to live. Pretty impressive structure. The harem section and the treasury were both highlights – the emeralds in the treasury were the size of a child’s fist and the Topkapi dagger was stunning. After a lovely meal of Pakistani/Turkish cuisine we spent our afternoon in the company of our friendly carpet salesman – leaving full of apple tea, but lacking a carpet.
The Harem of Topkapi Palace
Colonnade and rain at Topkapi
One of the bedrooms at Topkapi
The next day we tackled the Grand Bazaar. Now THAT was pretty amazing and intense. Whole streets in the undercover market crammed with shops and their owners working the tourists, cajoling and entreating – the most full-on sections were the carpet and leather streets. Every single shopkeeper very eager to do business and play the game. The gold and silver jewellery were very reasonable compared to home – the price is pretty much determined by weight, rather than workmanship as labour is so cheap here. The next visit we will come armed with more money to take advantage of such bargains.
Grand Bazaar with grand crowds and grand salesmen
Belly dancing costumes
The Spice Bazaar
On our way to lunch we ran into the small group of Brits also staying at our hotel. We had shared our airport transfer with them and had quickly hit it off. We joined them for lunch and then the afternoon on a little ferry ride across the Bosphorus to Asia (Istanbul is the only city in the world in two continents). We all enjoyed our indulgences on the top floor of an ice-cream parlour, milkshakes, sundaes and cakes all round. After our boat ride we headed back to our hotel for what, after a couple of days, had already become a ritual of a cold beer in the secluded and peaceful garden.
So many fishermen
View of Galata Bridge
Our third full day was pressure-free. We began at the huge Ayasofya, once a Church, then a Mosque, now a museum. It’s glorious golden and colourful mosaics were very similar to those in San Marco Basilica (due to the Ottoman influence in the building of both).
Inside Ayasofya
This was followed by us escaping the afternoon heat and descending into the surprisingly stunning ‘Basilica Cistern’ – the grandest of several underground reservoirs in that part of the city. It really did look like a magnificent underground (and wet!) cathedral. It was once only traversed by boat, now there are cement walkways throughout and even a café for a lunch break. They filmed a scene in the Bond film, From Russia with Love, there.
Inside the Basilica Cistern
That afternoon we also visited one of the most stunningly beautiful places of worship we have ever seen – the Süleymaniye Mosque, situated on the highest hill in Istanbul and surrounded by restful, shaded gardens. Its soaring dome, hundreds of suspended candles and many windows make it quite remarkable. Also much less tourists than at the Blue Mosque. We crashed after our big day with some vegging out watching back to back episodes of West Wing (very excited it was in English with Turkish subtitles).
Süleymaniye Mosque
Call to prayer
Next day was very slow to kick off as the social gathering at breakfast seems to stretch further into the morning each day. Final visits to the Arasta Bazaar, the Grand Bazaar and the Egyptian (or spice) Bazaar took up most of what was left of the day to do the last of our souvenir shopping. We also finally got a chance to visit Sultanahmet Mosque (the Blue Mosque) without the many busloads of tourists cramping our style. Another architecturally wonderful structure. Wandered down to the shore of the Sea of Marmara in the cool of the evening to check out the locals at rest and play – families picnicking and barbequing, fishermen casting and children running and kicking footballs around.
Outside Blue Mosque...
... and inside Blue Mosque
Casting rod
View of the other side of the Golden Horn
Our final full day of our wonderful four-month holiday was spent in such a relaxing way. After our regular late rise and breakfast and socialising, we set forth on the, oh, so deliciously air-conditioned tram across the Golden Horn to the Dolmabahçe Palace. This was the final residence of the last Sultan and was very European (rococo, Baroque, neo-Classical) in its architecture. Very sumptuous, magnificent and more than a tad gaudy, bit still so impressive. There was a massive chandelier in the main Ceremonial Hall made of Irish crystal weighing 4.5 tons. The wealth was really quite impossible to comprehend.
The Dolmabahçe Palace
Cute statue of lioness and cubs
Elephant tusk homewares
One of the many stunning rooms in the Palace
Gorgeous chandeliers
Thin mirror!
Searching for a restaurant from an outdated guidebook put a bit of pressure on us in the afternoon – especially as it was nearly 3pm and Nic hadn’t eaten lunch! We finally decided to walk back to the Galata Bridge hoping to find something other than a kebab place for our final meal in Istanbul. We got to the bridge and discovered a separate level underneath the road, open to the air and views and fisherman, entirely filled with restaurants. Now, admittedly, they were probably very touristy, but at 4pm we didn’t care. We wanted something a little flash and memorable. And that’s what we got. We chose a place with white tablecloths and incredibly eager waiters desperate to feed us. So eager in fact that, for the first time in our lives, we actually bargained in a restaurant! They brought out a trolley of dead fish and we had to pick one and it was priced by the kilo. When we saw the fat scorpion fish (which neither of us had ever eaten) we thought we’d give it a go. When he brought out the scales and weighed it and then told us the price, we both blanched and he immediately started to haggle. We were the only people in the restaurant at this point (who eats a main meal at 4:30?), so he was desperate to make a big sale (and since the fish priced by weight didn’t have those ‘per kilo’ prices on the menu, he could afford to play with figures!). When we still hesitated he came down again in price and we said, sure. When we asked for only 2 glasses of wine he brought the price of a bottle down as well so we’d have a bottle. He also threw in a 1.5L bottle of water and a fruit plate for dessert. By the time we left at 6pm, the front tables with the view were starting to fill up and business was on in a big way. I’m sure they do that with all the tourists!
On the bridge
Final bike shot
Feeling rather full we decided to walk the rest of the way back to our hotel by the water around the peninsular. It certainly wasn’t the salubrious stroll we would have had around Lady Macquarie’s Chair, but it was still enjoyable. Lots of men in groups swimming off the rocks, catching fish, cooking them up on portable barbeques. Not a local woman amongst them. There were some walking along the promenade like us, but none on the rocks having a relaxing afternoon in the setting sun with their partners or their friends.
Bondi on Bosphorus
'Beach' party
At one point Nic was ready to take on 3 men who were tormenting a dog tied to a hobo’s cart (minus the hobo), but luckily enough, her striding over and standing glaring with arms akimbo (and a big burly John behind her) was enough for them to stop and she stood guard until the owner returned. Little, little men.
Shopping bag
Shipwreck near the fishermen's spot
But even that moment did not ruin our glorious last day before our journey home. So glad we decided to stay in Istanbul for 6 nights instead of our original 3 – the city really does grow on you and if we had left earlier we would not be anywhere near as fond of it as we are.
Sunset and fishermen
First view of Ayasofya with big taxis in foreground
Stray puddy tatts, having been fed by someone who must care
Turkish cafe, morning
What a change of scene and pace is Istanbul! It really is a city of contrasts. There is the exotic beauty of the majestic buildings such as the Topkapi Palace, Ayasofya and the Blue Mosque and the burnt out, abandoned or run down buildings dwarfed beside them. There is also the garbage in the streets and the homeless cats and their broods, thin and scrappy, some scarred and limping. Very distressing. One must also be brave and tough enough to run the gauntlet of the ‘hard sell’, the determined shopkeepers who speak excellent English doing all they can to ‘help us spend our money’! At least most of these businessmen are polite, charming and witty in their banter and repartee with us. Once you get into the rhythm of smiling and politely saying ‘No thank you’ without pausing, you do fine. Doing the haggling thing gets easier, too. It’s surprising – you think it would be kind of easy, but it takes a bit of getting used to, and at first is a tad daunting. Maybe that’s because we began with big fish – a carpet salesman! Quite stressful really. The seduction begins with apple tea and took about an hour to complete our little dance. We managed to leave without buying a carpet – not because we didn’t want one, we found one we both loved, but we just couldn’t afford it. Shame, we got him down to a really low price, too. Oh well.
John and the very charming shoe shine guy
Almost like New York with so many taxis
Of course not, it's bad for you!
Our hotel, the Garden House Istanbul, was in Sultanahmet which was a perfect location for a sightseeing visit. We could walk to all the major places of interest which made things all very easy and laid back for our last stop before heading home. The staff at the hotel was also excellent in their hospitality and thoughtfulness, which really makes a difference to a stay in a foreign city. The hotel had a garden courtyard complete with water feature where the serenity was only disturbed by the minor key calls to prayer.
Homeless kitties
Shop kitty
Kitten resting on road
Our first full day we escaped a big downpour by visiting Topkapi Palace where the Sultans used to live. Pretty impressive structure. The harem section and the treasury were both highlights – the emeralds in the treasury were the size of a child’s fist and the Topkapi dagger was stunning. After a lovely meal of Pakistani/Turkish cuisine we spent our afternoon in the company of our friendly carpet salesman – leaving full of apple tea, but lacking a carpet.
The Harem of Topkapi Palace
Colonnade and rain at Topkapi
One of the bedrooms at Topkapi
The next day we tackled the Grand Bazaar. Now THAT was pretty amazing and intense. Whole streets in the undercover market crammed with shops and their owners working the tourists, cajoling and entreating – the most full-on sections were the carpet and leather streets. Every single shopkeeper very eager to do business and play the game. The gold and silver jewellery were very reasonable compared to home – the price is pretty much determined by weight, rather than workmanship as labour is so cheap here. The next visit we will come armed with more money to take advantage of such bargains.
Grand Bazaar with grand crowds and grand salesmen
Belly dancing costumes
The Spice Bazaar
On our way to lunch we ran into the small group of Brits also staying at our hotel. We had shared our airport transfer with them and had quickly hit it off. We joined them for lunch and then the afternoon on a little ferry ride across the Bosphorus to Asia (Istanbul is the only city in the world in two continents). We all enjoyed our indulgences on the top floor of an ice-cream parlour, milkshakes, sundaes and cakes all round. After our boat ride we headed back to our hotel for what, after a couple of days, had already become a ritual of a cold beer in the secluded and peaceful garden.
So many fishermen
View of Galata Bridge
Our third full day was pressure-free. We began at the huge Ayasofya, once a Church, then a Mosque, now a museum. It’s glorious golden and colourful mosaics were very similar to those in San Marco Basilica (due to the Ottoman influence in the building of both).
Inside Ayasofya
This was followed by us escaping the afternoon heat and descending into the surprisingly stunning ‘Basilica Cistern’ – the grandest of several underground reservoirs in that part of the city. It really did look like a magnificent underground (and wet!) cathedral. It was once only traversed by boat, now there are cement walkways throughout and even a café for a lunch break. They filmed a scene in the Bond film, From Russia with Love, there.
Inside the Basilica Cistern
That afternoon we also visited one of the most stunningly beautiful places of worship we have ever seen – the Süleymaniye Mosque, situated on the highest hill in Istanbul and surrounded by restful, shaded gardens. Its soaring dome, hundreds of suspended candles and many windows make it quite remarkable. Also much less tourists than at the Blue Mosque. We crashed after our big day with some vegging out watching back to back episodes of West Wing (very excited it was in English with Turkish subtitles).
Süleymaniye Mosque
Call to prayer
Next day was very slow to kick off as the social gathering at breakfast seems to stretch further into the morning each day. Final visits to the Arasta Bazaar, the Grand Bazaar and the Egyptian (or spice) Bazaar took up most of what was left of the day to do the last of our souvenir shopping. We also finally got a chance to visit Sultanahmet Mosque (the Blue Mosque) without the many busloads of tourists cramping our style. Another architecturally wonderful structure. Wandered down to the shore of the Sea of Marmara in the cool of the evening to check out the locals at rest and play – families picnicking and barbequing, fishermen casting and children running and kicking footballs around.
Outside Blue Mosque...
... and inside Blue Mosque
Casting rod
View of the other side of the Golden Horn
Our final full day of our wonderful four-month holiday was spent in such a relaxing way. After our regular late rise and breakfast and socialising, we set forth on the, oh, so deliciously air-conditioned tram across the Golden Horn to the Dolmabahçe Palace. This was the final residence of the last Sultan and was very European (rococo, Baroque, neo-Classical) in its architecture. Very sumptuous, magnificent and more than a tad gaudy, bit still so impressive. There was a massive chandelier in the main Ceremonial Hall made of Irish crystal weighing 4.5 tons. The wealth was really quite impossible to comprehend.
The Dolmabahçe Palace
Cute statue of lioness and cubs
Elephant tusk homewares
One of the many stunning rooms in the Palace
Gorgeous chandeliers
Thin mirror!
Searching for a restaurant from an outdated guidebook put a bit of pressure on us in the afternoon – especially as it was nearly 3pm and Nic hadn’t eaten lunch! We finally decided to walk back to the Galata Bridge hoping to find something other than a kebab place for our final meal in Istanbul. We got to the bridge and discovered a separate level underneath the road, open to the air and views and fisherman, entirely filled with restaurants. Now, admittedly, they were probably very touristy, but at 4pm we didn’t care. We wanted something a little flash and memorable. And that’s what we got. We chose a place with white tablecloths and incredibly eager waiters desperate to feed us. So eager in fact that, for the first time in our lives, we actually bargained in a restaurant! They brought out a trolley of dead fish and we had to pick one and it was priced by the kilo. When we saw the fat scorpion fish (which neither of us had ever eaten) we thought we’d give it a go. When he brought out the scales and weighed it and then told us the price, we both blanched and he immediately started to haggle. We were the only people in the restaurant at this point (who eats a main meal at 4:30?), so he was desperate to make a big sale (and since the fish priced by weight didn’t have those ‘per kilo’ prices on the menu, he could afford to play with figures!). When we still hesitated he came down again in price and we said, sure. When we asked for only 2 glasses of wine he brought the price of a bottle down as well so we’d have a bottle. He also threw in a 1.5L bottle of water and a fruit plate for dessert. By the time we left at 6pm, the front tables with the view were starting to fill up and business was on in a big way. I’m sure they do that with all the tourists!
On the bridge
Final bike shot
Feeling rather full we decided to walk the rest of the way back to our hotel by the water around the peninsular. It certainly wasn’t the salubrious stroll we would have had around Lady Macquarie’s Chair, but it was still enjoyable. Lots of men in groups swimming off the rocks, catching fish, cooking them up on portable barbeques. Not a local woman amongst them. There were some walking along the promenade like us, but none on the rocks having a relaxing afternoon in the setting sun with their partners or their friends.
Bondi on Bosphorus
'Beach' party
At one point Nic was ready to take on 3 men who were tormenting a dog tied to a hobo’s cart (minus the hobo), but luckily enough, her striding over and standing glaring with arms akimbo (and a big burly John behind her) was enough for them to stop and she stood guard until the owner returned. Little, little men.
Shopping bag
Shipwreck near the fishermen's spot
But even that moment did not ruin our glorious last day before our journey home. So glad we decided to stay in Istanbul for 6 nights instead of our original 3 – the city really does grow on you and if we had left earlier we would not be anywhere near as fond of it as we are.
Sunset and fishermen
Saturday 7 July 2007
Venice
Our first view of Venice travelling to our apartment on the Grande Canal
Blue poles...and not by Pollock
Looking at San Marco
Venice is even more gorgeous than all the photos, films and stories would suggest. The water in the canals is cleaner and bluer than expected and there is no foul smell at all (and the whole city is cleaner than we have found other Italian cities to be). Eating out there, however, is very expensive so the flash dinners have been kept to a bare minimum!
Ornate gondole
Tri-face
Evening canal
Our little studio apartment was in the Castello district to the east of San Marco. It had no view, a sofa bed and was very tiny, but there were no stairs, so that was a big bonus. We were able to cook some pretty fabulous meals there for ourselves, so that made us both happy. Not a very touristy part of town, which is always a plus, but we were close enough to all the sights. On our first night we arrived so late that we went to our local take-away pizza joint and grabbed a very tasty ‘lucifero’ with a bottle of beer and we were set!
One of many canals near our flat
View from San Marco across the lagoon to San Giorgio Maggiore morning
View of vaporettos docking at the lagoon
Our first day was spent exploring and buying our various museum and church passes to enable smart line jumping and money saving. We leapt right in there by visiting the Frari Church (not an obvious first, but it was close to where we were at the time) which is filled with some pretty amazing paintings and statues by Titian. Was a pleasure to see the art in situ and not stripped of its original location and put in a museum. This was followed by a visit to the museum of 18th Century Venice – Ca’ Rezzonico. All very Casanova.
Underarm...at Frari Church
Cafes near our vaporetto stop - Arsenale
We treated ourselves to a very romantic canalside dinner at a place called Trattoria da Giorgio ai Greci. We chose our seabass from the iced display case and they baked it for two and brought it out on a huge platter with potatoes, tomatoes, olives and drizzled in a wonderful herb, butter and wine sauce. They filleted it in front of us with panache and served it with a flourish. A bottle of dry white wine was the perfect accompaniment, as was the fading light and the gondolas gliding past. Finished off the meal with chocolate and coffee desserts and then wandered around San Marco square for the evening, pausing to sit and look and laugh at people doing their thing with the flocks of pigeons – some avoiding, some enticing with food, but all very entertaining to watch. Finally made our way back to the apartment and watched Erin Brockovich in Italian.
Our canalside restaurant
Nic at 'Greci'
Sunset from vaporetto stop
Gotta love a nun pic
Evening stroll
We used a couple of tricks shared in our Rick Steve’s guidebook and headed to San Marco Basilica on our second morning. We went straight to the bag check place, a building or two away and then took our bag check card to the front of the very long line and went straight in. Because so many people get to the front of the line and find out they have to check their bags in another place, they don’t make them line up again, so we just skipped the whole lining up part! Very happy about that!
Inside San Marco Basilica
Canal number...?
San Marco’s is a very big highlight of Venice. The unusual architectural combinations in the one building are sumptuous and exotic and a little strange, but it so works! The golden mosaics on the outside are impressive enough, but that is nothing compared to the interior. Upon entering one is struck dumb, mouths hanging slack-jawed at the roof (a football field in area) which is covered in the most exquisite gold and brightly coloured tiny mosaic tiles. So very, very beautiful, and so dramatic – such bling!
The church closest to our flat
From San Marco’s we popped next door to the Doge’s Palace, which had its own special magnificence. We also walked straight past the long line because we had a museum pass and all the other suckers were too miserable to fork out for more than one museum at a time. It so paid off in time and discomfort – especially when all the places of interest are much cooler inside than standing in line in the heat (although it has only been about 29 degrees – hope we aren’t rubbing it in for those of you suffering winter in Oz!).
Inside Doge's Palace
Traffic jam Venice style
One of the highlights of the Doge’s Palace was a Tintoretto painting called ‘Paradise’ (dubbed ‘The Monsterpiece’) – the largest oil painting in the world in the Grand Council Hall. This painting had 500 people in it, well, 501 – the day that Tintoretto finished his masterpiece, his daughter died, so he grabbed his brush and added another figure, saint number 501, a beautiful young woman in blue in the centre ascending to heaven. Truly amazing to behold.
More water vehicles
The Grand Staircase in the courtyard and the Golden Staircase (with its 24-karat gold ceiling) in the main entrance were also highlights. As were the prisons, over the canal from the Doge’s Palace and connected by the ‘Bridge of Sighs’ (included as part of our tour). The original prisons were in the bowels of the Palace, but eventually they just weren’t big enough to hold all the miscreants in Venice. The Palace had a ‘Mouth of Truth’ where anyone could anonymously put your name on a piece of paper and deposit it in the ‘Mouth of Truth’ and you could be arrested and “questioned” and disposed of with no real trial by the ‘Council of Ten’ (the terrifying Renaissance version of the CIA…or maybe KGB). All very nasty. Of course, most of us know of the 'Mouth of Truth' from the film Roman Holiday (Gregory Peck, Audrey Hepburn), but this one is different - or so the guide books tell us.
Grand Staircase (with a statue on the left looking remarkably like Paul Newman)
The ‘Bridge of Sighs’ was a covered bridge where prisoners were taken from the presence of their ‘judges’, over the canal, for imprisonment, torture or death (or all three). Supposedly they were given a last glimpse of Venice through the bars of the tiny windows of the bridge and they, of course, sighed at her beauty and their loss at never being free again. Sounds like a whole lot of bollocky propaganda!
Bridge of Sighs
The Correr Museum, at the opposite end of San Marco Square, was given a very brief once over as we were starting to flag and were in desperate need of some food and a good lie down. The food problem was solved with some yummy packed sandwiches and our rushed tour meant we were back in the apartment in time for a sleep by 3:30pm (perfect timing, really). Nic cooked a scrummy dinner after being let loose in the big supermarket a couple of canals away (the way to combat the exorbitant cost of meals in Venice is to do some cooking!). Afterwards, fuelled with garlicky pasta followed by gelati, we had the energy to explore new areas of the island and take more photos in the twilight. This became a regular afterdinner treat – strolling the alleyways of the city and marvelling at its old and decaying, yet still beautiful and oh so romantic, facades and canals.
View of San Marco square from Correr Museum
Someone's 'garage' door
Hit another 3 major sights on our third day – the Accademia, the Peggy Guggenheim Collection and La Salute Church. All are on the other side of the Grand Canal from where we were staying so we walked across the Accademia Bridge (one of the three places to cross the Grand Canal on foot – all other methods involve boats). It is also one of the most popular spots to photograph La Salute, but both the Bridge and La Salute are covered in scaffolding, so neither made great photo subjects. Shame, but still lovely.
Another gorgeous view
The Accademia houses oodles of Venetian Renaissance masters (from early Renaissance to high Renaissance) and stars Titian, Venorese, Tintoretto, Bellini, and Giorgione with some Canalettos thrown in. The scale of most of the paintings from the Venetian Renaissance was huge. Combined with the bright colours and ‘slice of life’ subjects (with a bit of religion thrown in), they were very impressive pieces.
Browsing through art galleries can be very tiring, so a refuel pit stop was necessary sitting in umbrella shade with beer and pizza watching the vaporetto (the ferries), water taxis and gondole drift past. Full and sated, we made our way to the Peggy Guggenheim Collection. The collection was basically a “who’s who” of the trail-blazers of modern art of the 20th Century. The woman herself was pretty damned amazing too with her passion for art (and artists!) and her determination for the shocking and innovative work to be seen, often before the world was ready for it. Very interested in finding out more about her.
Strolled to La Salute Church to wow once more at the beauty of religious architecture. This church was built by the city wanting to thank the Virgin Mary for allowing only 1 in 3 Venetians to die during the plague of 1630. It is filled with paintings and statues by the ‘biggies’ of Venetian art, in fact, it’s also covered in statues (125 of them!) so it is pretty lush – such a shame the dome is covered in the dreaded scaffolding (present in every city we have visited, marring the appearance of some gorgeous thing or other we travelled thousands of kilometres to see).
Inside La Salute church
View across Grande Canal from La Salute
Finished the day with a walk to San Marco and sat watching the San Giorgio Maggiore across the Grand Canal as the sun faded and the duelling orchestras volleyed to each other across the square. The one time of day when some of the cafes are closed but their tables and chairs are still there for tired tourist legs to rest.
Took a boat to the islands of Burano and Murano on Day 4. Burano is the home of lace making and Murano the home of glass blowing. Both islands were smaller and sweeter tastes of Venice, little villages in fact. Burano was particularly nice – very colourful houses in vibrant greens, blues, purples, reds, oranges and even hot pink. The buildings also lacked the flaking plaster and paint of Venezia. Very pretty indeed.
Canal on Burano
Antique lace in museum at Burano
A particular joy for both of us was the thunderstorm in the evening (experienced from the safety of indoors) which we immediately followed with a stroll along the main shore front of the lagoon with very few people, lots of puddles, fabulous sunset and cooler temperatures. Absolutely delightful!
After the storm
Having covered pretty much all of the ‘must-sees’ of lovely Venezia, by the fifth day we were able to take our time and just explore wherever we fancied. We took the opportunity to check out the areas east of San Marco which included this year’s Biennale exhibition. Some interesting and exciting pieces, but also a certain amount of drivel and self-indulgence. Quite liked the Australian contribution (even liked the pavilion housing the Aussie stuff – very corrugated iron, hardwood and stainless steel tension wire – Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, oi, oi, oi!). A particular favourite was the French contingent – Sophie Calle. Her work was the response of 107 women (through dance, photography, film, mime…whatever) to a ‘break-up’ email that the artist received from a lover. Very compelling. Miranda Richardson reading the email on film was a particular highlight for Nic.
Street in non-tourist, residential area of Sant Elena
Cute, timid little skeleton at Biennale
After lunch, more trips on the vaporetto to some previously unvisited churches and then some exploration (and battle with day-tourist crowds) walking from San Marco to Rialto then crossing the Grand Canal for further strolls away from the hordes. Shared a bottle of wine in our little studio flat with some home-cooked pasta leftovers and fresh caprese salad. Joined the locals for the evening outdoors, the sounds of kids kicking soccer balls, loud conversation and laughter around every corner and in every campo.
Back canal at dusk
Grand Canal at night
Our final full day began with a lovely sleep in followed by more Biennale time (there are two ‘gallery’ locations – one at the gardens, the other in the arsenal). Second day of modern art was much more enjoyable. Another two exhibits by Australians who did us proud with their creativity and messages.
Nic and John in the middle of some art
Our final lunch in Venezia was at Ristorante San Giorgio in our own little suburb on the waterfront of the lagoon. Finally tried the aperitif of a Bellini (champagne and peach juice) which was a little too sweet, both still prefer champagne straight. Our meal consisted of fried shrimp and calamari with polenta and salad, and a Venetian specialty of veal liver and onions, also with polenta, with a half carafe of house white wine, of course. Very tasty, very relaxing and so very enjoyable for a ‘last-meal-in-Venice’.
Our little restaurant for our last meal
Rialto at night
More beautiful Venice
In the afternoon we had the chance to visit and tour La Fenice – the Venice Opera House. It’s name, the Phoenix, is rather appropriate considering it has burnt down and been rebuilt three times in its history. What exists now (rebuilt after the 1996 fire) is a beautiful reconstruction of the original design – with some fantastic modern adjustments, such as individual air vents under every seat in the auditorium to enable the airconditioning to be so finely tuned so as to run completely silently and not disturb patrons, musicians or performers. It had a fabulous elevator orchestra pit floor that could actually be raised to the floor level of the auditorium for more seating or raised even higher to the level of the stage. Such modern innovation combined with the lush architecture of the original design made it such a gorgeous theatre.
Inside La Fenice
Dock at night
Another canal at night
We loved so many aspects of this beautiful city and enjoyed every minute of our time there.
One of the many beautiful mask-shop windows
From the Rialto
Arrivederci Venice
Blue poles...and not by Pollock
Looking at San Marco
Venice is even more gorgeous than all the photos, films and stories would suggest. The water in the canals is cleaner and bluer than expected and there is no foul smell at all (and the whole city is cleaner than we have found other Italian cities to be). Eating out there, however, is very expensive so the flash dinners have been kept to a bare minimum!
Ornate gondole
Tri-face
Evening canal
Our little studio apartment was in the Castello district to the east of San Marco. It had no view, a sofa bed and was very tiny, but there were no stairs, so that was a big bonus. We were able to cook some pretty fabulous meals there for ourselves, so that made us both happy. Not a very touristy part of town, which is always a plus, but we were close enough to all the sights. On our first night we arrived so late that we went to our local take-away pizza joint and grabbed a very tasty ‘lucifero’ with a bottle of beer and we were set!
One of many canals near our flat
View from San Marco across the lagoon to San Giorgio Maggiore morning
View of vaporettos docking at the lagoon
Our first day was spent exploring and buying our various museum and church passes to enable smart line jumping and money saving. We leapt right in there by visiting the Frari Church (not an obvious first, but it was close to where we were at the time) which is filled with some pretty amazing paintings and statues by Titian. Was a pleasure to see the art in situ and not stripped of its original location and put in a museum. This was followed by a visit to the museum of 18th Century Venice – Ca’ Rezzonico. All very Casanova.
Underarm...at Frari Church
Cafes near our vaporetto stop - Arsenale
We treated ourselves to a very romantic canalside dinner at a place called Trattoria da Giorgio ai Greci. We chose our seabass from the iced display case and they baked it for two and brought it out on a huge platter with potatoes, tomatoes, olives and drizzled in a wonderful herb, butter and wine sauce. They filleted it in front of us with panache and served it with a flourish. A bottle of dry white wine was the perfect accompaniment, as was the fading light and the gondolas gliding past. Finished off the meal with chocolate and coffee desserts and then wandered around San Marco square for the evening, pausing to sit and look and laugh at people doing their thing with the flocks of pigeons – some avoiding, some enticing with food, but all very entertaining to watch. Finally made our way back to the apartment and watched Erin Brockovich in Italian.
Our canalside restaurant
Nic at 'Greci'
Sunset from vaporetto stop
Gotta love a nun pic
Evening stroll
We used a couple of tricks shared in our Rick Steve’s guidebook and headed to San Marco Basilica on our second morning. We went straight to the bag check place, a building or two away and then took our bag check card to the front of the very long line and went straight in. Because so many people get to the front of the line and find out they have to check their bags in another place, they don’t make them line up again, so we just skipped the whole lining up part! Very happy about that!
Inside San Marco Basilica
Canal number...?
San Marco’s is a very big highlight of Venice. The unusual architectural combinations in the one building are sumptuous and exotic and a little strange, but it so works! The golden mosaics on the outside are impressive enough, but that is nothing compared to the interior. Upon entering one is struck dumb, mouths hanging slack-jawed at the roof (a football field in area) which is covered in the most exquisite gold and brightly coloured tiny mosaic tiles. So very, very beautiful, and so dramatic – such bling!
The church closest to our flat
From San Marco’s we popped next door to the Doge’s Palace, which had its own special magnificence. We also walked straight past the long line because we had a museum pass and all the other suckers were too miserable to fork out for more than one museum at a time. It so paid off in time and discomfort – especially when all the places of interest are much cooler inside than standing in line in the heat (although it has only been about 29 degrees – hope we aren’t rubbing it in for those of you suffering winter in Oz!).
Inside Doge's Palace
Traffic jam Venice style
One of the highlights of the Doge’s Palace was a Tintoretto painting called ‘Paradise’ (dubbed ‘The Monsterpiece’) – the largest oil painting in the world in the Grand Council Hall. This painting had 500 people in it, well, 501 – the day that Tintoretto finished his masterpiece, his daughter died, so he grabbed his brush and added another figure, saint number 501, a beautiful young woman in blue in the centre ascending to heaven. Truly amazing to behold.
More water vehicles
The Grand Staircase in the courtyard and the Golden Staircase (with its 24-karat gold ceiling) in the main entrance were also highlights. As were the prisons, over the canal from the Doge’s Palace and connected by the ‘Bridge of Sighs’ (included as part of our tour). The original prisons were in the bowels of the Palace, but eventually they just weren’t big enough to hold all the miscreants in Venice. The Palace had a ‘Mouth of Truth’ where anyone could anonymously put your name on a piece of paper and deposit it in the ‘Mouth of Truth’ and you could be arrested and “questioned” and disposed of with no real trial by the ‘Council of Ten’ (the terrifying Renaissance version of the CIA…or maybe KGB). All very nasty. Of course, most of us know of the 'Mouth of Truth' from the film Roman Holiday (Gregory Peck, Audrey Hepburn), but this one is different - or so the guide books tell us.
Grand Staircase (with a statue on the left looking remarkably like Paul Newman)
The ‘Bridge of Sighs’ was a covered bridge where prisoners were taken from the presence of their ‘judges’, over the canal, for imprisonment, torture or death (or all three). Supposedly they were given a last glimpse of Venice through the bars of the tiny windows of the bridge and they, of course, sighed at her beauty and their loss at never being free again. Sounds like a whole lot of bollocky propaganda!
Bridge of Sighs
The Correr Museum, at the opposite end of San Marco Square, was given a very brief once over as we were starting to flag and were in desperate need of some food and a good lie down. The food problem was solved with some yummy packed sandwiches and our rushed tour meant we were back in the apartment in time for a sleep by 3:30pm (perfect timing, really). Nic cooked a scrummy dinner after being let loose in the big supermarket a couple of canals away (the way to combat the exorbitant cost of meals in Venice is to do some cooking!). Afterwards, fuelled with garlicky pasta followed by gelati, we had the energy to explore new areas of the island and take more photos in the twilight. This became a regular afterdinner treat – strolling the alleyways of the city and marvelling at its old and decaying, yet still beautiful and oh so romantic, facades and canals.
View of San Marco square from Correr Museum
Someone's 'garage' door
Hit another 3 major sights on our third day – the Accademia, the Peggy Guggenheim Collection and La Salute Church. All are on the other side of the Grand Canal from where we were staying so we walked across the Accademia Bridge (one of the three places to cross the Grand Canal on foot – all other methods involve boats). It is also one of the most popular spots to photograph La Salute, but both the Bridge and La Salute are covered in scaffolding, so neither made great photo subjects. Shame, but still lovely.
Another gorgeous view
The Accademia houses oodles of Venetian Renaissance masters (from early Renaissance to high Renaissance) and stars Titian, Venorese, Tintoretto, Bellini, and Giorgione with some Canalettos thrown in. The scale of most of the paintings from the Venetian Renaissance was huge. Combined with the bright colours and ‘slice of life’ subjects (with a bit of religion thrown in), they were very impressive pieces.
Browsing through art galleries can be very tiring, so a refuel pit stop was necessary sitting in umbrella shade with beer and pizza watching the vaporetto (the ferries), water taxis and gondole drift past. Full and sated, we made our way to the Peggy Guggenheim Collection. The collection was basically a “who’s who” of the trail-blazers of modern art of the 20th Century. The woman herself was pretty damned amazing too with her passion for art (and artists!) and her determination for the shocking and innovative work to be seen, often before the world was ready for it. Very interested in finding out more about her.
Strolled to La Salute Church to wow once more at the beauty of religious architecture. This church was built by the city wanting to thank the Virgin Mary for allowing only 1 in 3 Venetians to die during the plague of 1630. It is filled with paintings and statues by the ‘biggies’ of Venetian art, in fact, it’s also covered in statues (125 of them!) so it is pretty lush – such a shame the dome is covered in the dreaded scaffolding (present in every city we have visited, marring the appearance of some gorgeous thing or other we travelled thousands of kilometres to see).
Inside La Salute church
View across Grande Canal from La Salute
Finished the day with a walk to San Marco and sat watching the San Giorgio Maggiore across the Grand Canal as the sun faded and the duelling orchestras volleyed to each other across the square. The one time of day when some of the cafes are closed but their tables and chairs are still there for tired tourist legs to rest.
Took a boat to the islands of Burano and Murano on Day 4. Burano is the home of lace making and Murano the home of glass blowing. Both islands were smaller and sweeter tastes of Venice, little villages in fact. Burano was particularly nice – very colourful houses in vibrant greens, blues, purples, reds, oranges and even hot pink. The buildings also lacked the flaking plaster and paint of Venezia. Very pretty indeed.
Canal on Burano
Antique lace in museum at Burano
A particular joy for both of us was the thunderstorm in the evening (experienced from the safety of indoors) which we immediately followed with a stroll along the main shore front of the lagoon with very few people, lots of puddles, fabulous sunset and cooler temperatures. Absolutely delightful!
After the storm
Having covered pretty much all of the ‘must-sees’ of lovely Venezia, by the fifth day we were able to take our time and just explore wherever we fancied. We took the opportunity to check out the areas east of San Marco which included this year’s Biennale exhibition. Some interesting and exciting pieces, but also a certain amount of drivel and self-indulgence. Quite liked the Australian contribution (even liked the pavilion housing the Aussie stuff – very corrugated iron, hardwood and stainless steel tension wire – Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, oi, oi, oi!). A particular favourite was the French contingent – Sophie Calle. Her work was the response of 107 women (through dance, photography, film, mime…whatever) to a ‘break-up’ email that the artist received from a lover. Very compelling. Miranda Richardson reading the email on film was a particular highlight for Nic.
Street in non-tourist, residential area of Sant Elena
Cute, timid little skeleton at Biennale
After lunch, more trips on the vaporetto to some previously unvisited churches and then some exploration (and battle with day-tourist crowds) walking from San Marco to Rialto then crossing the Grand Canal for further strolls away from the hordes. Shared a bottle of wine in our little studio flat with some home-cooked pasta leftovers and fresh caprese salad. Joined the locals for the evening outdoors, the sounds of kids kicking soccer balls, loud conversation and laughter around every corner and in every campo.
Back canal at dusk
Grand Canal at night
Our final full day began with a lovely sleep in followed by more Biennale time (there are two ‘gallery’ locations – one at the gardens, the other in the arsenal). Second day of modern art was much more enjoyable. Another two exhibits by Australians who did us proud with their creativity and messages.
Nic and John in the middle of some art
Our final lunch in Venezia was at Ristorante San Giorgio in our own little suburb on the waterfront of the lagoon. Finally tried the aperitif of a Bellini (champagne and peach juice) which was a little too sweet, both still prefer champagne straight. Our meal consisted of fried shrimp and calamari with polenta and salad, and a Venetian specialty of veal liver and onions, also with polenta, with a half carafe of house white wine, of course. Very tasty, very relaxing and so very enjoyable for a ‘last-meal-in-Venice’.
Our little restaurant for our last meal
Rialto at night
More beautiful Venice
In the afternoon we had the chance to visit and tour La Fenice – the Venice Opera House. It’s name, the Phoenix, is rather appropriate considering it has burnt down and been rebuilt three times in its history. What exists now (rebuilt after the 1996 fire) is a beautiful reconstruction of the original design – with some fantastic modern adjustments, such as individual air vents under every seat in the auditorium to enable the airconditioning to be so finely tuned so as to run completely silently and not disturb patrons, musicians or performers. It had a fabulous elevator orchestra pit floor that could actually be raised to the floor level of the auditorium for more seating or raised even higher to the level of the stage. Such modern innovation combined with the lush architecture of the original design made it such a gorgeous theatre.
Inside La Fenice
Dock at night
Another canal at night
We loved so many aspects of this beautiful city and enjoyed every minute of our time there.
One of the many beautiful mask-shop windows
From the Rialto
Arrivederci Venice
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